IN REALTIME

2013 “Solutions Linux, Libres et Open Source 2013”: the increasing influence of Open and Free Software

By
Caroline
05-06-2013

Louis Montagne, af83 CEO, attended, the last May 28th and 29th, to the 15th edition of the Solutions Linux exhibition, now called Solutions Linux, Libres et Open Source. He shares with us its vision of Open Source and his interest for this globally famous event gathering each service and consulting companies, Free Software Editors, but also user and Free Software creators organizations.

Solutions Linux, professional faire created in 1999, is dedicated to the Free and Open Source ecosystem. On this 15th edition, the program was packed and the Open Source Policy, Open Cloud and Mobile OS tracks were very popular, attracting a lot of people. With only two days (against three the previous years), the CNIT in La Defense welcomed more visitors than in 2012 – confirming the success and good dynamic of this Open event.

Louis Montagne, who was there from the opening on May 28th, was reaaly satisfied with this 2013 edition: « I feel Solutions Linux 2013was a good year, with an audience really focused and paying close attention to all the talks and round-tables during the event. Many professional players were there, and the organizations are always well represented and very active. It’s always a pleasure for me to make the most of this time to meet or see again oll the Open Source and Free Software players ». However he was disappointed by the absence of some Free Software actors and community, and that some projects weren’t represented.

For Louis Montagne, those solutions are more and more an integral part of our everyday life:”It’s like Open Source and Free Software were now essential, massively used but discreet – or they’ve simply become a convenience, a common good everybody has seized because it works, it’s here, available on the shelf , this software we so desperately need.”

This is why it’s important to keep being attentive, communicating, making the communities grow and defend Free projects, because nobody wishes for a "commons tragedy", the disappearance of the hyper efficient shared projects, for a lack of contributors, of dual licenses or simply appropriation without contribution.

“With more user-friendly services, a constant access to the Internet, more functional smartphones… it becomes more and more easy for us to imagine new services, accompany our clients to their digital shift, their transformation and it’s important to do it with as many Free tools and software as possible - For them, and their clients. Because a big part of our lives now relies on software or apps” underlines finally Louis Montagne.

At af83, we like to share our knowledge and skills, but also learn from others. So Free Sofwtare and Open Source are not only tools that find all their purpose within our teams but also a philosophy. This is why we contribute, and invite our teams and developers to release their code, whenever it’s possible and useful, to give back to this common base, this shared knowledge – to make this positive dynamic last.